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Nancy Grace
Murder Via Nicotine Injection?; Ray Rice Knockout Punch on Video
Aired September 08, 2014 - 20:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
NANCY GRACE, HOST: Breaking news tonight. He`s world famous, lives in the lap of luxury, has a multi-million-dollar contract, engaged to a
gorgeous woman. But money can`t buy you love. Superstar NFL running back Ray Rice -- tonight, we obtain the rest of the damning video.
Bombshell tonight. Ray Rice brutally delivering the knockout punch to his lady love, his fiancee knocked out cold. Then he drags her by the arms
out of the elevator, down the hallway of a luxury casino resort. But tonight, the star is busted, caught on video!
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Disturbing video on the suspended NFL running back Ray Rice.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They both get into the elevator.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ray Rice then decks his then fiancee.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She hits her head hard, knocking her unconscious.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He drags her unconscious out of the elevator.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: And live, North Dakota. A 20-year-old spoiled brat surfacing (sic) her Facebook in multiple lanes of traffic when she mows down a loving
and tender-hearted great-grandmother of 17. Tonight, is there a special punishment for spoiled brat killers?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Police say Abby Swenton (ph) was doing 85 on this North Dakota highway and looking at her Facebook photos on her phone.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She apparently never even hit the brakes before Phyllis Gordon (ph) was killed.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The texting and driving is becoming a very serious problem.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: And live to the California beach town of San Clemente. He had it all, a brand-new job, a brand-new and much younger wife, living off an
insurance jackpot of nearly half a million dollars. But it all comes crashing down when suspicions hone in on the loving husband. After he
pressures his gorgeous wife, Linda, to up her life insurance policy to $1.4 million, Linda found dead with lethal levels of nicotine throughout her
body. But wait! Linda`s a non-smoker. Did her loving husband murder Linda Curry with a deadly dose of nicotine?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She died.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A California husband is accused of poisoning his wife with nicotine.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Fatal levels.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How lethal it is.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Of nicotine in her system.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: To cash in on her $400,000 life insurance policy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: That from ABC`s "GMA."
And tonight, not one, but two missing. An 18-year-old co-ed, Anna Smith (ph), disappears off the campus school bus. And to Plano, Texas, 23-
year-old Christina Morris vanishes from a high-end luxury retail shopping mall. In the last hours, gritty surveillance video emerges. We have the
video.
Good evening. I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us.
Bombshell tonight. To the California beach town of San Clemente. He had it all, a brand-new job, a brand-new and much younger wife, the two of
them living off an insurance jackpot of nearly a half a million dollars. All that comes crashing down when suspicions hone in on him, the loving
husband. After he pressures his gorgeous wife, Linda, to up her life insurance policy to $1.4 million, Linda found dead with lethal levels of
nicotine in her body.
But whoa! Wait a minute! Linda is a non-smoker. Did her so-called loving husband murder Linda with a deadly dose of nicotine and start a
brand-new life with a new job and a younger wife?
We are taking your calls. Straight out to Candace Trunzo, senior news editor with Mailonline.com. Candace, thank you for being with me.
I`ve never heard -- and I`ve seen plenty of autopsies and I`ve waited for plenty of toxicology reports to come back in, and never once, Linda
(sic), have I seen death by nicotine. I mean, it makes me think of somebody lying there, being forced to smoke cigarette after cigarette after
cigarette, but this was an injection, we believe anyway, an injection of liquid nicotine.
What do you know, Candace?
CANDACE TRUNZO, MAILONLINE.COM (via telephone): Well, he had been injecting her, allegedly, for quite some time. About nine months into the
marriage, she started having these symptoms, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea. And it seemed that...
GRACE: Wait! Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa! Candace Trunzo from Mailonline.com, wait. You said just nine months into the marriage?
He didn`t even have the decency to wait a while?
TRUNZO: No.
GRACE: He was already sick and tired of her after nine months?
TRUNZO: Right. I mean, I think that -- it looks as though he was in it for the money from the beginning. And in fact, just shortly after they
got married, there was this barbecue, and he bragged -- I mean, he bragged about being able to kill somebody with an injection, administering an
injection that -- and he would never get caught doing it. He bragged it to her boss at a barbecue, so...
GRACE: Whoa! Whoa! Let me get that straight. Candace Trunzo joining me from Mailonline.com. So they`re having a barbecue, I guess at
their home, and he starts bragging that he could kill somebody and never get caught?
TRUNZO: Exactly. He said that he could make a deadly poison in his garage, administer it to someone without getting caught, and he bragged
about it. And this was just months before his wife started coming down with these horrible symptoms.
GRACE: Liz, let me see their million-dollar home again. I mean, this guy had it all. Why can`t people just be happy? Look at this place! Now,
that is some shack right there. What is that, like, a four-car garage maybe? I don`t know. Three? Look at that.
So he`s living in this mansion. He`s got this gorgeous wife. After nine months, Candace, she starts having symptoms. What are the symptoms?
TRUNZO: Well, she was nauseous. She was vomiting. She had diarrhea. She was tired. And she went to the hospital about nine months in, and
doctors could not determine exactly what was wrong. But police asked her if anyone had harmed her, if anyone would harm her, and she said that she
suspected her husband, that they were having money problems. And that is just nine months after they got married.
GRACE: Well, I don`t understand why people load up on a luxury home and luxury cars, then they claim they`ve got money problems. Of course
you`ve got money problems because you`re living in a spread like that and you`re driving around in a Mercedes and an SUV.
OK, hold on, Candace Trunzo. Very quickly, to Dr. Lolly (ph) McDavid, medical director, Child Advocacy Protection. Dr. McDavid, thanks for being
with us. When a toxicology test is typically run, they don`t test -- they don`t test for nicotine levels.
DR. LOLITA MCDAVID, MEDICAL DIR., CHILD ADVOCACY & PROTECTION: Well, no, they don`t. However, it often takes a long time for toxicology tests
to come back. They had some reason to look for nicotine. They got it -- they found the high levels when they did do the test. So for some reason,
they did. They may have just -- it may have just come up on their panel.
GRACE: Well, yes, you`re right. Matt Zarrell, typically, when you do toxicology reports on an autopsy, you look for drugs, outlawed drugs. You
look for prescription pain killers and prescription drugs. You don`t look for dangerous, toxic, fatal levels of nicotine.
MATT ZARRELL, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER (via telephone): No, you`re right, Nancy. In fact, initial testing revealed the nicotine at first when they
did the toxicology scan. But it wasn`t until they did the additional science (ph) forensic testing they determined she had to get the nicotine
within two hours of her death. And that`s important, Nancy. The reason that`s important is because the night of her death, from 6:00 PM to
midnight, she`s home alone with her husband.
GRACE: Whoa! Candace Trunzo, she was an adamant non-smoker. So tell me about, Candace, how she was found.
TRUNZO: How she was found when she died?
GRACE: Yes.
TRUNZO: Well, they were at home. She came home from work at about 6:00 o`clock in the evening. She was exhausted. She went right to bed.
Her husband got into bed with her -- this is what he says -- hours later, and she wasn`t breathing. He called -- he called, you know, EMT, and they
came and she was -- she was dead at that point.
He couldn`t understand it, said that he -- you know, he didn`t understand how she could have died. Of course, he knew that she was sick
before but didn`t know the circumstances, didn`t know what happened to her.
GRACE: Take a look at Linda L. Curry, his first wife. Now, this is the wife that he pressured to up her life insurance policy to $1.4 million.
Shortly after that, she died. He was apprehended with a brand-new wife and a brand-new job in a different town, a much younger wife, living off the
insurance jackpot he got when his first wife died. Nobody understood why.
So Candace Trunzo, the first wife that we now believe died of nicotine injection -- what did they ultimately at the time, anyway, think killed
her? What, a stroke, a heart attack? I mean, what did they chalk off (ph) the death to?
TRUNZO: Well, they suspected that there was some poisonous substance in her system, but they didn`t know. And it wasn`t until they did further
testing that they were able to determine that it was nicotine and that she had deadly amounts, a fatal level of nicotine in her system and not...
GRACE: Unleash the lawyers. Joining me out of D.C., David Benowitz. Joining me out of New York, Jeff Gold. First to you, Benowitz. What`s
your defense?
DAVID BENOWITZ, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: The defense is you don`t know -- first of all, you have to look at the original toxicology reports from when
she died and really see did they do the right job, did they test the right things. Do you really know that it was nicotine? Because the technology
may have changed between the time of the death...
GRACE: Benowitz, wa-wa-wa-wa-wa-wait!
BENOWITZ: ... and now.
GRACE: Wa-wait! Wa-wait! Wait! So you are suggesting that the first line of defense is to argue she did not die of nicotine. Is that
what you`re saying, plain and simple?
BENOWITZ: What I`m saying is we don`t know.
GRACE: You don`t know.
BENOWITZ: I`d want to see those original -- the original toxicology reports.
GRACE: OK. Jeff Gold, let`s talk about that. If you`re going to challenge -- if your defense is toxicology, I don`t know that I would
challenge and say I`m smarter than the scientist because nobody is going to believe that, unless you try a Johnnie Cochran maneuver saying something
was wrong at the lab or they made a mistake. Couldn`t you argue, if you were the defense, that nicotine, murder, no way?
JEFF GOLD, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Right. Two things, Nancy. First of all, it`s really not about new toxicology. What it is, is an
interpretation of the old toxicology. The first interpretation is we don`t know the levels necessary to kill somebody and the time period involved.
And now the new report is saying we know those things.
So nothing has changed in the toxicology, it`s just the interpretation. And that always gives a defense attorney something to say.
GRACE: Well, here`s the kicker...
GOLD: And you`re absolutely right. I`m going to say maybe she was smoking in the back yard. I know a lot of people that don`t tell their
husband they smoke!
GRACE: Don`t smoke, except when they`re alone in the back yard. OK, hold on. Jeff Gold, David Benowitz, I`m with you in the sense if I were a
defense attorney, which of course, I never would be, but if I were, God help me...
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: If I were, I would definitely go on nicotine equals murder, no way. But this woman was an adamant non-smoker. So if you`re going to --
let me see the gentlemen, please. This is where I see your argument failing. If you`re going to challenge the toxicology reports, which
normally would make sense, this woman was such an adamant non-smoker, the fact that she has any nicotine in her body at all is dumbfounding. So the
fact that she has any...
BENOWITZ: Nancy, you know, the daughter of the preacher could be in church saying she would never have premarital sex and be out in the back
yard having premarital sex. So just because she`s adamant in public...
GRACE: Yes. You know what?
BENOWITZ: ... doesn`t mean she`s not doing it in private.
GRACE: Don`t drag the preacher`s daughter into this. It has absolutely nothing to do with this.
Candace Trunzo, joining me from Mailonline.com, so how did suspicion finally hone in on him, simply because new toxicology was done?
TRUNZO: Well, yes, but there were some previous incidents. The first one -- well, the second time she was hospitalized with those symptoms we
talked about before, the nausea, vomiting, he had -- her husband, Paul, had come to see her. He left the room, told the nurse that she was absolutely
fine. Seconds later, her IV alarm went off. The nurse went into the room and found that her port had been broken, and broken in a really strange
way.
And police were investigating that. And given the fact that she had already told police -- Linda had already told police that she suspected
that her husband had -- you know, was planning to kill her, you know, those things add up.
And when all of the final testing was done and it was found that the levels of nicotine in her system were fatal, I mean, they put two and two
together, plus the fact that he wasn`t -- he was at home with her. Nobody else was there.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRACE: He is world famous. He lives in the lap of luxury, has a multi-million-dollar contract, engaged to a gorgeous woman. But money
can`t buy you love, or the truth. Superstar NFL running back Ray Rice -- tonight, we obtain the rest of the damning video, Rice brutally delivering
the knockout punch to his lady love, his fiancee knocked out cold. He then drags her by the arms out of a public elevator and down the hallway of this
luxury casino resort.
But tonight, the star is busted, caught on video!
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I mean, it`s sickening. It`s maddening.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: After America has seen this video, what should the NFL do?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Now that you see what happened inside and you know that he was suspended for two games, I just want to scream.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Out to a special guest, Rachel Nichols, host of CNN`s "UNGUARDED WITH RACHEL NICHOLS." Also with is, Ty Schalter from Bleacher
Reports.
Rachel, this is what I don`t get -- ow! Ow! Ooh! Ooh! Ooh! OK. We`ve already seen a while back him dragging her down the hall, and he came
up with some big lie, I think that she was drunk, trying to attack -- look at her little shoe off. Look at that! Look at that! How dare he? And
then drags her, what -- look, look, look! Hold on, Rachel. I`m just drinking it in here. Who`s the other guy? He doesn`t even notice
something`s wrong?
We already have video of him dragging her down the hall by the arm, but that wasn`t enough for him to get fired, Rachel?
RACHEL NICHOLS, HOST, "UNGUARDED": Yes. You know, when we saw that previous video, which was not this punch in the elevator, just the
aftermath, the NFL only suspended him two games -- two games, Nancy, which is just outrageous, when you consider some of the other penalties for drugs
or the other offenses that you can do in the NFL can get you suspended for six, eight, 16 games.
There was immense outrage before this video came out. In fact, it was so bad that the NFL was forced to revamp its entire domestic violence
policy. But they said at the time it was not going to be retroactive to Ray Rice. He was still going to skate with these two games. Then TMZ puts
this video out this morning, and it explodes. There is so much...
GRACE: Rachel...
NICHOLS: ... of a build (ph) over this.
GRACE: Rachel, excuse me!
NICHOLS: People can`t believe it.
GRACE: You are the queen of sports, but excuse me. Did you say the NFL was forced to revamp their domestic abuse policy? Eh! Eh! Eh! Oh,
you know what? I`m so sorry they`ve had to go to all that trouble, like this is the first time a star has ever beaten the stew out of his
girlfriend or his wife. So they`re whining they had to revamp their domestic abuse policy.
NICHOLS: I don`t think anyone`s complaining that they revamped their domestic abuse policy. It is something that is long, long, long, as you
point out, long, long, long overdue. I was speaking to the outrage of people, and this video has only accelerated it.
And this afternoon, because this video was released, finally, the NFL decided that they were going to indefinitely suspend Ray Rice. Finally,
the Ravens decided they were going to cut Ray Rice from the team.
And it is amazing to so many people that the NFL claims they never saw this video before today, before it was released on the Internet. TMZ could
obtain it, Nancy. How come the NFL couldn`t? Come on!
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: New video released this morning of NFL star Ray Rice that appears to show the actual punch that got the Baltimore Ravens
running back suspended for domestic violence.
RAY RICE, BALTIMORE RAVENS No football games or no money was going to determine what I have to live with the rest of my life.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The question I have is if it was available to TMZ, if they were able to obtain the video, then why didn`t the NFL obtain
this video?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: We are seeing this star, this superstar, delivering a knockout punch to his then fiancee. After this, just weeks later, they tie the
knot, as if that`s not calculated?
Joining me, Rachel Nichols from CNN`s "UNGUARDED WITH RACHEL NICHOLS." Also with me, Ty Schalter from Bleacher Reports.
Ty, what is so amazing about this is that he actually gets a plea deal on aggravated assault for pretrial diversion. We all know what that is.
That`s no jail time. That`s not even really probation. You go to some classes, and after about 90 -- ow! After about 90 days, the whole thing is
dropped, isn`t that right, Ty?
TY SCHALTER, BLEACHER REPORTS (via telephone): Yes, that`s about the size of it. And I think the police, and same way with the NFL, have tried
to take his prior track record of being a good guy and a guy in the community, and believe it or not, an anti-bullying spokesperson, and try
and take his punishment into accordance with what he`s done.
But now that we see this evidence, and now that the public has seen what he`s done, and now that we`ve seen this domestic violence broadcast
for the whole world to see, you know, we know what he`s done. We know what he`s capable of. And his privilege of being a superstar, a multi-
millionaire, has for the moment been revoked.
It`s not, from what I understand, totally uncommon for first time domestic abusers or one-time incidents because our overtaxed court system
can`t always handle throwing the book at everybody, especially somebody...
GRACE: I don`t know what you`re saying about that, Ty Schalter -- Ty Schalter joining me from Bleacher Reports -- because if I had video, video
of a knockout punch -- and Liz, I want to see all the video. I want to see not only the knockout punch but him dragging her off the elevator and down
the hall, the whole thing. With video like that, it`s a slam dunk case.
With me, clinical psychologist Dr. Patricia Saunders. Dr. Saunders, before we go one more step, this is no surprise when it comes to stars and
star athletes. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Rae Carruth (ph), who was a wide receiver for the Carolina Panthers, became the first active NFL player ever charged with
first-degree murder. Carruth was eventually convicted of conspiring in his pregnant girlfriend`s murder and is now in prison.
Jevan Belcher (ph), Kansas City Chiefs linebacker, died in a murder- suicide, killing his girlfriend, Cassandra Perkins (ph), before driving to the Chiefs training facility and shooting himself. Former NFL star Chad
Johnson (ph) was placed on probation after pleading no contest to head- butting his then wife, TV reality star Evelyn Lozada (ph), during an altercation in 2012.
Jason Kidd (ph) pleaded guilty to a 2001 misdemeanor assault charge after he was arrested for hitting his then wife. He was ordered to undergo
counseling. Boxing champion Floyd Mayweather, Jr., (ph) faced domestic violence charges over a hair-pulling, punching and arm-twisting argument
with his ex-girlfriend, Josie Harris.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: And those are just a few of the sports figures, movie stars, TV stars, it goes on and on. Back to Patricia Saunders. Why-- the
entitlement -- this guy is in a casino. They are drenched with video recorders. Didn`t he know he`d be caught or did he just think he was above
it all?
SAUNDERS: I think this is a typical case of domestic violence. Two factors, one that the couple has a hostile dependent relationship on each
other. They feel empty inside and they hate the fact that they`re totally dependent on the other person. The fact of entitlement and that we see so
many athletes just reinforces that.
GRACE: With me, Rachel Nichols from CNN`s "Unguarded With Rachel Nichols." Rachel, it went from a two-game suspension to what?
RACHEL NICHOLS, CNN: Well, they have now said that he`s cut from the Baltimore Ravens team and they have suspended him indefinitely from the
NFL. We`ll have to see how long indefinite is. For a lot of people, any revocation of that suspension will be too soon. Nobody wants to see this
guy back in the league for a long time, if ever, Nancy.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Disturbing video of suspended NFL running back Ray Rice.
They both get into the elevator. Ray Rice decks his then fiancee.
She hits her head hard, knocking her unconscious.
He drags her, unconscious, out of the elevator.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Welcome back. For those of you just joining us, superstar Ray Rice has now gotten an indefinite suspension, but what took so long?
Portions of this just discovered secret surveillance video have been out there for so long, but here we catch him in the rest of the damning video,
delivering, actually delivering the knockout punch. Rachel Nichols with us from "Unguarded With Rachel Nichols." Also Ty Schalter and Michael
Christian. Rachel, in the beginning, didn`t he try to say that his then fiancee, now wife, was drunk, kind of blaming it on her?
NICHOLS: He didn`t say much. There were sort of rumors floated throughout the press. You know how a defense team does, planting some
stories here or there. Certainly any implication that any woman could be responsible for her own beating is atrocious. Any blame placed on this
woman for anything she did is atrocious. And that was some of the stuff floated early on in this. And really it caused some of the negative
reaction of people around the league. How could you even take that route?
GRACE: You know, Rachel, you`re saying that -- how bizarre it is that the defense team or his camp would put out information that she was drunk
or she was this or she was that. But what`s so crazy, Rachel, is that she actually gives a press conference where she apologized. Did you see that?
NICHOLS: I did. And unfortunately, we see that with domestic violence victims all the time. It`s not uncommon. And something that`s
even worse, Nancy, and you know this from your days in the legal system, when the NFL interviewed her to try to determine Ray Rice`s discipline in
this case, they talked to her with him in the room, with him sitting next to her. That is a huge no-no in domestic violence situations. You don`t
ask someone who`s been abused about the case when their abuser is sitting right there hanging on and listening to every word. That should never
happen.
GRACE: Everyone, you are seeing -- it was obtained by TMZ Sports. I guess the prosecutor or the NFL couldn`t get it. But he has gotten even
less than straight probation. On probation, you have to answer in to a probation officer for a period of years. You have alcohol and drug tests.
You have to attend possibly anger management classes or domestic relation classes. No, no, no, no. With diversion, those are classes, Michael
Christian, are they not, that go from 30 days to 90 days, and once you get your pretend diploma from diversion class, you`re free. You`re scot-free.
CHRISTIAN: Yes, that`s right, Nancy. In this case it was supposed to be for one year. But what`s astounding is that wasn`t the original plea
offer. Originally, it`s been reported that the prosecutors offered him a plea deal where he would have had to be on probation, an actual probation
for a year, and attend anger management counseling. And Ray Rice through his attorney said no, I`m not doing that. That`s when they came up with
this diversion program.
GRACE: So bottom line, what happened that night, Rachel Nichols?
NICHOLS: Look, I mean, we see on the tape what happened. And really that`s all you need to see. You don`t need to know what the lead-up was
coming up to it, you don`t need to know what happened afterward, you just need to know that he punched his then fiancee, now wife, mother of his
child, by the way, in the face, and that is not ever okay. Our legal system let this woman down and the NFL let this woman and all its female
fans and all its fans down by saying it`s not that big a deal. Guess what, it`s a big deal.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRACE: And now to North Dakota, a 20-year-old spoiled brat surfing her iPhone`s Facebook in multiple lanes of traffic when she mows down a
loving and tender-hearted great grandmother of 17. Tonight is there a special punishment for spoiled brat killers?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Police say Abby Sletten was doing 85 on this North Dakota highway.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sletten was texting and looking at Facebook photos on her phone when the accident happened.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Her car rear-ended an SUV, killing 89-year-old Phyllis Gordon.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: North Dakota texting and driving law prohibits all drivers from using their phones to read, write and send electronic
messages, including email.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Out to Michelle Southern, assistant news director joining me in Baton Rouge. Michelle, I don`t quite understand. She`s going up to
speeds of 80, 86 miles an hour while she`s skimming through, scrolling through photos on her Facebook, on her iPhone. Plows down an elderly
grandmother, a great grandmother of 17. Tender-hearted, loving. Imagine your own grandmother minding her own business when this 20-year-old spoiled
brat reading her iPhone, scrolling through photos on Facebook, kills the grandma.
SOUTHERN: That`s right. Investigators are the ones who obtained warrants to search her phone, and that`s whenever they discovered that
that`s what she was doing at the time of the crash was looking at photos on her Facebook mobile application. Didn`t ever hit the break and just plowed
right down, going 85 miles an hour.
GRACE: Whoa, whoa, whoa. That is important, Michelle Southern. I mean, this grandma lives to 89 years old. She`s about to turn 90. She is
fit as a fiddle. Still cooks, gets around, sharp as a tack. Look at her. Look at her. I think of my own grandmother, Lucy. And to think that some
20-year-old brat looking at photos on her Facebook and driving plows down my grandmother? She makes it to 89 years old, living right. To then
collide with this girl? So who had the idea, Michelle Southern, to check her iphone?
SOUTHERN: Well, distracted driving was a suspected factor in the crash, and so that`s why the warrants were obtained. There is a law in
North Dakota regarding texting and driving. It is against the law for reasons such as this, so they did have the warrant to search her phone.
GRACE: Now, an SUV up ahead slowed to make a U-turn, but Sletten, distracted by her Facebook, never even noticed. She never even slowed down
from the 85 estimated miles an hour she was driving, and we know that. There`s no doubt about it, because there was not even a tiny skid mark.
She never even tried to break. Instead plowing into the back of grandma`s vehicle, killing Ms. Gordon. That`s what happened. Am I missing anything,
Matt Zarrell?
ZARRELL: In addition to looking at photos on her Facebook app at the time of the crash, the police affidavit says Sletten also sent and received
several text messages since she had departed from her location to where the crash occurred, so she was texting and looking at Facebook.
GRACE: Now, she even told a police officer, did she not, Michelle Southern, that she had no recollection of the crash?
SOUTHERN: That`s exactly right. She told cops that she did not remember a single thing that had happened whenever they were questioning
her about the crash.
GRACE: You know, listen to this. The grandmother is a farmer and a baker and an active community member in Ada, Minnesota. You know, that
just breaks my heart. A baker and a farmer. Devoted her life to her children and her 17 great-grandchildren. Unleash the lawyers. Jeff Gold,
David Benowitz. You know what, drunk driving, awful. Texting and surfing your iPhone for photos. I mean what, a dating site? I guess she was on
Facebook so she`s looking at her friends. What about it, Benowitz?
BENOWITZ: We don`t know. She has no recollection of what happened, which is of course consistent with a horrific accident like that, where I`m
sure the air bag deployed. I`m sure she was knocked unconscious. We don`t know what happened.
GRACE: What does that have to do with anything? We already know what she was doing at the time of the crash. All right, Jeff Gold, please,
don`t -- don`t even start with a lie.
BENOWITZ: Oh, please, please, please.
GRACE: Like she had no recollection. We don`t need her to remember because we can look at her iPhone history and we know what she`s doing.
BENOWITZ: Because you prejudged her, as usual. Because you prejudged her.
GRACE: Actually I`m reading the police report. Are you saying the police are lying?
BENOWITZ: What I`m saying is they just started their investigation. They may have Facebook posts from around the time she was driving. Can you
say that she was looking down? We don`t know. Don`t prejudge her.
GRACE: Actually, I`m not prejudging her. You need to prepare before you come on this program because --
BENOWITZ: Really.
GRACE: Because Jeff Gold -- cut his mic. Because Jeff Cold, it clearly states in the police report, if anyone would read it, that they got
a search warrant to look at her cell phone at the time of the crash. She was looking at photos on Facebook. It`s very simple, it`s forensic.
Nobody is prejudging her, that`s what the facts are.
GOLD: That`s right, Nancy, but there`s one more fact here, which is that the driver, who was with the grandmother, for some reason slowed down
to make an illegal turn on a highway to one of those little turn-arounds that only the police are supposed to use. So what we don`t know is whether
they slammed on their brakes to find this little turn-around, and then the defendant plowed into the back. That`s a fact we don`t know, and it
mitigates whether or not she was negligent.
GRACE: Can I ask you a question? Can I ask you a question? You two handle high level cases. But think back, way, way back, one of the first
things you learn is when you rear end somebody, it really doesn`t matter what they`re doing. It doesn`t matter if they slam on brakes. If you rear
end them, that means you`re going too fast or you are not paying attention. If they make an illegal left turn, that is their problem. It has nothing
to do with you striking a fixed object. I think we can all agree on that.
GOLD: It`s comparative, Nancy.
BENOWITZ: Don`t prejudge.
GOLD: The other driver was negligent as well. The jury can consider that.
GRACE: You don`t even know what I`m talking about.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRACE: And now, not one, but two go missing. A young coed Anna Smith disappears off the campus school bus, and to Plano, Texas, a 23-year-old
Christina Morris vanishes from a high-end luxury retail shopping mall. In the last hours, gritty surveillance video emerges. We have the video.
Straight out to Justin Freiman. Let`s start with Christina Morris. What happened?
FREIMAN: Christina Morris was out with some friends in the evening. She leaves a friend`s apartment, goes to a parking lot at this big complex
with shops and fancy restaurants, and that is the last she`s seen. We have video which the police have released that show her walking with the friend
to the parking garage but then they part ways and go in separate directions. She`s never seen again.
GRACE: Back it up right there, Justin. Let`s see the video again of Christina Morris. Do I know for a fact the friend got her in her car or to
her car, and then the friend leaves and goes back to his apartment?
FREIMAN: No, according to police, they part ways before she gets to the car. They said they`ve spoken to him numerous times, and they even see
him on the video drive off, and they say he`s not a suspect.
GRACE: OK. That answers my question very well. So we know that he leaves before she is abducted or gets in her car. With me right now, I`m
hearing in my ear is joining me from Dallas, Anna Morris, the stepmother of Christina. Anna, thank you for being with us.
ANNA MORRIS, STEPMOTHER: Thank you for having me.
GRACE: Everyone, you`re seeing the picture of Christina Morris, just 23 years old. She vanishes from a high-end shopping mall parking garage.
Ms. Morris, what are police telling you tonight?
MORRIS: That they`re following every lead and they`re going over everything numerous times, talking to people over and over again, walking
her path, trying to find -- turn up anything. But as far as I know, there are no new leads.
GRACE: Let`s go out to Officer David Tilley with the Plano police department. Officer Tilley, I`ve been to Plano several times. It`s a
beautiful, beautiful and very well to-do area. It`s not a big population at all. Do you believe, Officer Tilley, that Christina left the parking
garage in her car?
OFFICER DAVID TILLEY, PLANO PD: No, we do not believe that strictly because her car was actually found at the location whenever we had a report
of her missing.
GRACE: So the friend walks her to either her car or his car, and he gets in his car and leaves. She`s what, is she captured on video in her
car still walking to her car? Where does the video leave off, Officer Tilley?
TILLEY: Pretty much what we have is the video shows her and this other friend walking into the parking garage. And then we don`t have
anymore video beyond that showing what they`re doing. What was reported from the friend is basically that he had parked on one side of the garage,
and she had parked on the other. They split ways and each went to their cars. He got into his car and he left the location.
GRACE: What was their relationship, were they boyfriend-girlfriend?
TILLEY: No, my understanding is they were just friends.
GRACE: OK. Officer David Tilley with me. And Michelle Southern, what can you tell me about our other missing girl?
SOUTHERN: Well, the other missing girl, that we`re looking for, Anna Smith. Anna Smith. She`s a student from Appalachian State, apparently
went missing, was last seen on Wednesday near her dorm room about 6:15, and hasn`t been seen since.
GRACE: The college coed Anna Smith, 5`9, slender, short red hair, blue eyes. Take a look. Anna Smith, missing apparently from the campus
school bus. Vanishing seemingly into thin air. Tonight, we`re on the lookout for Christina Morris and Anna Smith.
Let`s stop now and remember American hero, Army Staff Sergeant Nicholas Carnes, just 25, Dayton, Kentucky. Bronze Star, Purple Heart, a
riverboat captain back home. Parents Regine and Gove (ph). Widow Terri. Nicholas Carnes, American hero.
And tonight, congratulations to Maryland friends Katie and Shawn. They welcomed their new baby girl, their first. Ruby Lundin (ph), 6 pounds
13 ounces. A honeymoon baby, she`s named after family on both sides in honor of her grandmother. Welcome, baby Ruby. Everyone, thank you for
being with us. Drew up next. I`ll see you tomorrow night, 8:00 sharp Eastern. Until then, good night, friend.
END
